02/14/2014

The phrase "gay icon" gets tossed around a lot, but why is it that some figures amass more of a gay audience? Welcome to Gay Iconography, a feature where we present a proposed iconic figure or character and then ask you to weigh in with your thoughts.

Debbie Harry is a musician, actress and style icon. The legendary lead singer of Blondie has left her mark across punk, disco and new wave with a string of hits and an unmistakable cool.

Known for her signature peroxide-blonde hair and striking features, she's also appeared in films, television and even once as a Playboy bunny. She became something of an institution in the New York City scene at places like Studio 54 and CBGB.

It's there that she became closely tied to the gay community.

“Blondie has always been a part of the downtown community in NYC, with many, many friends who represent alternative lifestyles," she told the Huffington Post in a press release following the band's refusal to play in Sochi for the Winter Olympics. "We feel very strongly about these friendships and associations, and don’t feel good about participating in a situation where biases and prejudices are paramount."

She made headlines for tweeting a photo of the offer letter for the Sochi gig with the words "PASS human rights" scrawled over it. It's not the first time she's stood up for the LGBT community, as a long-time ally in the fight against AIDS, as well as appearing on Cyndi Lauper's True Colors tour for the Human Rights Campaign. She told Gay Times Magazine: "I know its important to stand up for gay rights or letting people get over their hang-ups or their prejudices. But for me personally it's never been an issue and I feel like as an adult you are entitled to whatever sexuality you are and have and whoever you're in love with."

Celebrate Debbie Harry with some classic videos, and tell us your thoughts on the fabulous frontwoman, AFTER THE JUMP ...

Blondie's Parallel Lines may have been their third album, but it was their first smash success. It hit No. 1 in the U.K. and No. 6 in the United States. The album was full of classics like "Heart of Glass," "One Way Or Another" and (our personal favorite) "Hanging On the Telephone."

The band is known for crossing genres, including new wave ("Dreaming"), reggae ("The Tide Is High") and, famously, rap. Their song "Rapture," above, was the first No. 1 hit in the U.S. to feature rap.

Debbie Harry also released five solo albums. Her second album featured "French Kissin' In the USA." The song was written by Chuck Lorre (yes, the same guy behind Two And A Half Men), and its video features Peg Bundy herself, Katey Sagal. You may recognize a cover of this song used in the film Troop Beverly Hills.

Before Hairspray was a movie musical, it was just a musical. And before that, it was a movie from the brilliant John Waters, starring Debbie as Velma Von Tussle.

Comedian John Roberts told us about how he became friends with Debbie Harry after his band opened for Blondie. Debbie fits right into Roberts' over-the-top comedy style with her character "Fran."

What's your favorite Blondie song or Debbie Harry moment? Tell us in the comments.

Yesterday Facebook massively expanded their gender identification options for users from two to over fifty, and right on cue the conservative talking airheads over at Fox News have responded with bizarre false equivalencies, melodramatic confusion, and outright mockery.

One reporter commented "[I]ntersex, whatever that is..." apparently forgetting that his job as a reporter is to know what he's talking about. Another pair snarked, "Heading over to the male, Clayton." "No, I changed mine to 'Intersex.'"

And then great thinker Todd Starnes posted a shabby straw man on his own Facebook wall, writing, "What if you identify as a pine cone or a chicken or a weed whacker?" Identifying as a chicken or pine cone means one is suffering from species dysphoria, which is utterly unrleated to gender or sexuality, and identifying as an inanimate object was not a mental condition I was able to find with a cursory Google, Wikipedia, and DSM-IV/5 search.

A video of clips of various Fox News reports, if you can stomach it, is AFTER THE JUMP...

Study: Methane leaks negate climate benefits of natural gas. "...a surprising new report, to be published Friday in the journal Science, concludes that switching buses and trucks from traditional diesel fuel to natural gas could actually harm the planet’s climate.

Two gay Nigerian men talk about the anti-gay law: "The gay scene went from being overtly closed to being somewhat open in the past decade. But with the passage of the bill into law, the scene will become hidden. How long that will be, we don't know. The visibility we've been able to create as a community has again been taken away from us in the name of protecting religion and cultural practices. Some people in Lagos can tell you where LGBT people gather to socialise on a weekend; some can even name the gay-friendly bars around town. Simply put, the gay scene in Lagos was relatively free and peaceful. The law jeopardises that."

Bobby Jindal to warn of assault on religious liberty: "According to prepared remarks, Jindal will reference the current debate over contraception playing out on the Supreme Court level between the Obama administration and Hobby Lobby."

Canadian Football League players fined for remarks about Michael Sam: "Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Arland Bruce was fined for a crude posting on social media urging Sam to "submit to God." Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive tackle Bryant Turner Jr. was disciplined for a reported anti-homosexual tweet that has since been deleted."

Candy Swipe creator says Candy Crush swiped his game. "I have spent over three years working on this game as an independent app developer. I learned how to code on my own after my mother passed and CandySwipe was my first and most successful game; it's my livelihood, and you are now attempting to take that away from me. You have taken away the possibility of CandySwipe blossoming into what it has the potential of becoming. I have been quiet, not to exploit the situation, hoping that both sides could agree on a peaceful resolution. However, your move to buy a trademark for the sole purpose of getting away with infringing on the CandySwipe trademark and goodwill just sickens me."

A trailer has been released for The New Black, the upcoming documentary that tells the story of how the African-American community responded to Maryland’s marriage equality ballot measure back in 2012, as well as how the community continues to grapple with the broader push for gay rights nationwide.

The film documents activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay marriage and examines homophobia in the black community’s institutional pillar—the black church and reveals the Christian right wing’s strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda.